Yunnan Baiyao just saved its name, but now Brain Gold, JDB, and other health foods face trouble. On October 22, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) published the "Guidelines for Naming Health Foods (Draft for Comments)" on its official website, proposing to regulate health food naming. According to the 14 categories of prohibited expressions and words listed in the appendix, many well-known health foods such as Brain Gold may face renaming. The new rules specify basic principles for naming health foods, the composition of health food names—trademark name, generic name, and attribute name—content that must not be included in health food names, and requirements for application and review of health food names. In particular, the appendix details 14 categories of expressions or words prohibited in health food names, including common words like "natural", "spirit", "essence", "brain", "heart", "treasure", as well as personal names and place names. This means that many well-known brands, such as Brain Gold, Brain Gold (another product), JDB, Jingxin Oral Liquid, and Zhangguang 101, have names that do not comply with the regulations and face the risk of renaming. These products and brands are often the result of years of painstaking business efforts, with brand value reaching tens of billions. When Yunnan Baiyao faced renaming, its technical quality director Li Jin once said that once renamed, the brand, reputation, and public recognition built over 115 years might collapse, with estimated losses exceeding 10 billion yuan. For some products, renaming is almost like changing their fate. JDB, which once built a 20 billion yuan market with a single red can, has been investing heavily in building the "JDB" brand since returning the "Wanglaoji" trademark, worth over 100 billion yuan, to Guangzhou Pharmaceutical. Coupled with packaging changes and legal battles, sales declined and the company was severely weakened. It never regained its former glory. For 14 years, whether in packaging or advertising, it almost never promoted its health food status. Consumers perceive JDB as just a beverage. In fact, as early as July 2003, JDB applied for a health food approval number for "JDB Herbal Tea"—Wei Shi Jian Zi (2000) No. 0437. On the website of the former China Food and Drug Administration, the efficacy listed for "JDB Herbal Tea" under that approval number is only "clears the throat and moistens the throat". According to SAMR requirements, relevant units or individuals can provide feedback before November 16, 2018. Analysts believe that this matter involves a wide range, and it is foreseeable that SAMR will receive a large amount of feedback. 14 Categories of Words Banned Many Health Foods May Be Affected Not only well-known brands, but the new naming rules for health foods have a broad impact. The new rules clarify that health food naming must follow four basic principles.

  • Comply with relevant national laws and regulations.
  • Follow the principle of one product, one name.
  • Reflect the true attributes of the product, be concise and easy to understand, and conform to Chinese language habits.
  • Must not involve disease prevention or treatment functions, and must not mislead or deceive consumers. Health food names are divided into trade name, generic name, and attribute name, that is, the name of the registered trademark, the name reflecting the characteristics of the main raw materials, and the name indicating the dosage form or food category attribute. The new rules list content that must not be included for each type of name. In the appendix, the new rules summarize prohibited expressions and words into 14 items. ▲Whether some terms can be used in health food names should be determined based on their language environment. It can be seen that common words like "natural", "treasure", "spirit", "essence", as well as personal names and place names are included. A rough search by Health Insight (Jian Shi Jun) found that in the national database of domestic health foods under the former CFDA, 289 approval numbers correspond to product names containing "natural"; 97 contain "heart", 38 contain "brain"; 90 contain "medicine"; 50 contain "strong"; the most containing "spirit" is 855 (since words like "reishi" are included, most may not violate the rules—note by Health Insight). Others like "fat-reducing" and "blood sugar balancing" also have over 10 entries each. In contrast, imported products are in better shape. Health Insight found 29 approval numbers for products involving "spirit", 17 approval numbers for products with "natural" in the name, 2 entries involving "brain", and 1 product containing "strong". No product names contain words like "medicine", "fat-reducing", or "blood sugar balancing". Frequent Exaggeration and Misleading 400 Billion Yuan Health Food Industry Needs Further Regulation In fact, health foods, whether in naming or promotion, have been placed under strict control by relevant authorities. The food and drug regulatory authorities have issued naming guidelines multiple times, requiring non-compliant products to change as required. After successive rectifications, the situation seems to have improved. It can be seen that in the current database, no products are named with "ancestral" or "imperial" terms. However, Health Insight found that many product names still contain exaggerated claims or imply therapeutic effects. Chaotic naming is just one of the problems in the health food industry. In 2014, media reported that "the State Food and Drug Administration cracked down on illegal health food activities, filing over 10,000 cases in five months." Health foods are essentially food, but in the minds of consumers, they often have the effect of treating diseases or improving symptoms, and some even mistakenly believe they can replace medicine, viewing them as "alternative medicine". This also provides space for false advertising. Relevant data shows that from July 2017 to March 2018, during the national campaign against food and health food fraud and false advertising, food and drug regulatory authorities at all levels handled and published over 8,000 administrative penalty cases. In the short term, false advertising can increase health food sales and expand market share, but in the long run, it not only affects consumers' understanding of health foods but also causes the entire industry to face repeated strikes and rectifications, making it difficult to achieve healthy development. According to official data, there are currently over 2,000 health food manufacturers in China, employing about 6 million people, with 16,000 approval numbers. In 2017, the total industrial output value of China's health food industry was about 400 billion yuan, maintaining an annual growth rate of about 15%. Analysts believe that with continuous standardization of operations, improvement of product standards, combined with increasing attention to health and the promotion of the big health concept, the health food industry will perform better and better. Source: Health Insight (Jian Shi Ju) -END-